When can I move my baby to her nursery?
Since they are expected to wake up several times a night, newborns and younger infants usually sleep in the same room as their mother. Being close to mom and dad often helps to make night time feedings easier, so everyone can get back to sleep faster.This advice was reinforced in the American Academy of Pediatrics, when they said that babies should sleep in a crib, bassinet, or cradle that is separate, but close, to their mother's bed. That is because "the risk of SIDS has been shown to be reduced when the infant sleeps in the same room as the mother."
But does that mean that your baby should sleep in the same room with you her whole first year?
Probably not, especially when you consider that your baby's highest risk for SIDS is before she is three to four months old. So by five to six months, if your baby is sleeping through the night, you can likely move her to her nursery (if you have a separate room for her to sleep in).
Even the AAP, in the book Your Baby's First Year, states that if your baby "is still sleeping in your room by six months, it's time to move her out." This is in reference to a baby who isn't sleeping well in her mother's room though, with the idea that the baby may be waking up frequently because she hears or senses her parents in the room. Keep in mind that if your baby is sleeping well in your room, you don't have to move her out if you don't want to.
Source:
American Academy of Pediatrics Policy Statement. The Changing Concept of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. PEDIATRICS Vol. 116 No. 5 November 2005, pp. 1245-1255.
